1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to racks, and more particularly to a hollow-molded rack for displaying, storing and dispensing a number of containers.
2. Prior Art
Beverage can display racks have become popular recently, especially among those who are seeking to amass a large collection of the many different brands of soda cans or other metal beverage cans now widely sold.
A known prior beverage can rack which is intended for displaying a collection of emptied cans is produced by Classic Products Incorporated, Chicago, Ill., the prior rack being molded from a single sheet of plastic material. The known rack includes a number of projecting arcuate surfaces, these surfaces conforming to the cylindrical outer surfaces of the cans to be displayed and being formed to extend substantially less than halfway around each of the cans.
Thus, when using the known display rack, it is required to securely fasten each of the displayed cans to the molded sheet by way of separate adhesive layers such as, for example, glue or double sided adhesive tape. This requirement detracts from the usefulness of the rack as a means for mounting a collection of full or emptied beverage cans, some of which are to be later removed for purposes of using or trading or other disposition. It will be appreciated that it is desirable not to damage the collections or to leave traces of glue or tape on the surfaces of the cans or on the display rack itself when the cans are removed therefrom.
It is also known in the prior art to secure a container to a dispensing rack by way of protruding arms which hold the container by being inserted under a lip or edge formed on the container body. Such structures are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,508,945 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,552,612. However, these patented racks will not hold containers which are not provided with lips or reentrant portions, and they are not formed by hollow-molding a single plastic sheet. Thus, such patented racks cannot be used with several types of cans nor do they possess other advantages as explained later below.
Further, holding and supporting means for securing a number of pharmaceutical phials or ampules is known in which a number of such ampules, each having a smooth body, are clamped to a resilient strip. In particular, U.S. Pat. No. 2,598,492 shows and describes various embodiments of such holding means. FIG. 7 of that patent illustrates an embodiment in which a suitably elastic strip is formed with cylindrical corrugations, the corrugations defining a series of phial receiving collars having restricted openings at the tops thereof, according to the patent. As is the case with the other patented dispensing racks discussed above, the phial holding means disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,598,492 are not formed from a hollow-molded plastic sheet and, further, there is no suggestion in any of the known prior art of a container dispensing rack comprising such a hollow-molded sheet.
The above and other shortcomings in the prior art are overcome by the present invention.